Between the Lines
by Proteus DMC
Summary: After Cloud and Zack return from Nibelheim as heroes, life gets a little complicated.  Aerith doesn't seem to mind.


Between the Lines

If SOLDIER accepted women, she should have joined. Cloud told her that one day and she laughed. It had not been a joke. When fueled by the search for accessories, she had more endurance than both Zack and he combined—more than ten SOLDIERS. She flittered from one vendor to the next across the dank nighttime streets of Midgar: a butterfly leaving splashes of pollinated color in her wake.

She held a pair of heavy looped earrings to the side of her head. "How do they look, Cloud?"

He shuffled his feet. "Isn't answering questions like that Zack's job?"

"I'm asking you tonight."

The earrings were too bulky for her slender face; her slender frame. But she knew that already, didn't she? She asked with such bright enthusiasm, it was contagious. The point had never been to see what he thought about jewelry she had no intention of buying.

The point was to spread the splashes of color in her wake. She knew the effect she had on others. Cloud never knew whether Zack was more wise or foolish for trying to harness her strange energy.

Cloud pointedly looked away. "Buy them; don't buy them. It's all the same."

Aerith returned the earrings to a balding, disappointed vendor. She leaned in close to him, almost nose-to-nose. "I can never understand how such a sweet man can live with such a dour side."

Cloud knew if he saw her smiling eyes, it would be all over. He chose to stare off further down the street and remain silent. Men and women passed and stared. They were striking as individuals. He was tall and proud and she, radiant, and they realized as a pair, were more than twice as striking, judging by stares both overt and covert.

Aerith sighed. "This isn't cheering you up at all, is it?"

"It's not going to be that easy this time."

"What would help?"

"I think I'd just like to go back to the apartment and go to bed."

"We don't get much chance to be together, just the two of us. And I would like company tonight."

"Zack won't stay out too late, I promise. Work is involved."

Aerith paced around Cloud two, then three times. "Since we're already out and about in the theater district, how about a drink? I know this place…"

Cloud grumbled an obligatory protest. He knew her well enough to know that full-hearted resistance would require more energy than he was willing to expend. He allowed her to tug him down the street with those seemingly frail hands and frail arms.

If willpower counted for everything, she _could_ have been a SOLDIER.

* * *

He made the mistake of finally looking at her. Two beers helped him relax, but they were nowhere near as anesthetizing as her smile. He had been trying hard not to talk about the issue at the core of his heart. Finally, a twist of her lip—some forgetable joke and the words escaped his lips without thought.

"I was thirteen."

Aerith set down her class of wine. "Sorry?"

"I promised her I'd become a SOLDIER and left Nibelheim."

She seemed unsure of what to do with the information. "Well… You did."

"Right. Two years and a catastrophe later. She said… She said… 'How can you forgive Shinra after what they did to our home? How can you be any part of that?'"

Aerith pointed. She was usually animated when she talked and alcohol seemed to animate her even more. "See, that's not fair though. It was a fluke. An Act of God almost. Who would have ever thought General Sephiroth could do something like that?"

"It wasn't just him. It was the experiments that created him. It was the experiments that made him go insane."

"They say Professor Hojo won't see the light of day for a long time."

"But everything Shinra has been doing to the planet… To its people."

"The new President Shinra says he plans to completely phase in renewable fuels within ten years." Aerith winked. "I'm sure that will happen… But things change. People change…"

"Do they?"

"It sounds like you're wondering if she was right."

Cloud leaned back in his seat. "I wonder…"

"Oh, Cloud…"

They sat in silence until another round of drinks arrived.

"What was she like?" Aerith said.

"Who?"

"Tifa. This girl of yours."

"She was complicated. Tomboyish. Nurturing. Gorgeous. Introverted. The only girl I've ever loved. She was the girl you watch grow up right next to you for years and years, sometimes thinking she likes you, but always knowing you'll never be good enough for her."

Aerith chuckled. "You do realize what you're saying, don't you? You're one of the most coveted men around."

Cloud blinked. "Huh?"

"The hero of Nibelheim. You defeated the world's most feared man in a fair fight without any mako enhancement and without any special training."

"I'm not a hero. I shouldn't have even been able to beat him. It was luck and… Her. I only did it because she was in danger."

"Where is she now?"

"Staying at some bar in Sector Seven. I've been searching for her for over a year, you know. And now that I finally find her… She says she never wants to see me again."

Aerith held her hands together, calculating. "You like Cissnei, don't you?"

"Cissnei?"

Whatever reaction she hoped to elicit, she must have gotten it based on her expression. "I gather you like the 'warrior woman' type. She told me she thought you were 'hot.'"

Cloud scowled. "I didn't know you and she talked."

"On occasion. We used to more." Aerith poked Cloud. "Know thine enemy. When you and Zack returned from Nibelheim, she was all over him like white on rice. I wanted to get to know her. And I needed her to see that I was serious about him. Knowing how close to dying he was made me think about a lot of things. It made me realize my feelings better. You don't know how much that will ever mean to me Cloud…" She blushed and regained her clever poker face. "Oh my. What was I saying?"

"You were talking about Cissnei being all over Zack."

"Oh. Right. And I know I'm not being fair. I know. She really is a nice girl. I owe her more than I'll probably ever know. Zack told me she was the one who saved you both from Professor Hojo. If she hadn't gotten there when she did, who knows what terrible things may have happened? And though Tseng swears on his life he wasn't involved, you'll never be able to convince me the Turks didn't play a part in leaking the truth about the Nibelheim incident."

"You talk to Tseng too?"

Aerith shrugged and sipped her wine. "We go back. Actually. We were at the Officer's Club that night…"

"What night?"

Aerith poked Cloud again. "Stay with me SOLDIER. You haven't had that many yet. The night Cissnei told me she thought you were 'hot.'"

Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. She had had a few herself. More than her usual. "I thought Zack was banned from the Officer's Club for life."

"He is. But he wasn't there. Tseng invited me that night."

"So you're at the Officer's Club with Tseng and Cisnei…"

"And Rude and Reno."

Cloud chuckled. "So it's the Turks and Aerith Gainsborough."

"Not all of them."

"But a few."

"Well Zack was invited too, but…"

"Right…" Cloud said. Aerith never talked about Zack's incident at the Officer's Club. He only knew it involved eleven beers and a blonde in stiletto heels. "Go on."

"Cissnei recommended I try the fennell braised Marlboro tentacles."

"Ew. What did that taste like?"

"About what you'd expect. I had told her I wanted something vegetarian."

Cloud stared.

"I thought we were on safe 'recommend food' terms. I guess not."

"But she told you…?"

"That was after about a pitcher of beer."

Cloud wanted to tell Aerith he was having a very hard time following this story, but fearing further reprimand, once again bit his tongue.

Aerith continued. "The subject turned to you. This wasn't long after they re-evaluated you for SOLDIER. She said, 'That Cloud wields Zack's old buster sword like a natural. I hope he's not compensating for anything!"

Cloud blinked; blushed. "You mean she…"

"Wants to try your 'omni-slash.'"

Cloud blushed deeper.

"She knew you'd been crashing with Zack and me and asked if I knew anything about your past experiences."

"Experiences?"

Aerith grinned. "Experiences?"

"Did you tell her I haven't had any?"

"I dodged the question. She did make a comment though. She said she hopes you know your way around in the sack…" Aerith impersonated Cissnei's voice and her sultry, tipsy voice. "'I don't suffer virgins.'"

Cloud sighed. "Well, so much for that…"

Aerith winked. "Fortunately that's easy to remedy."

Cloud stammered.

Aerith giggled. "Zack says you need a confidence booster. 'I've gotta get him laid,' he keeps saying. He wanted to take you to some common brothel. Can you believe him?"

The slap of Cloud's hand on the table drew looks. "What?"

"Calm down, Cloud. He has good intentions."

"It's not any of his business, now is it?"

"It's just his strange 'Zack' way of showing he cares, Cloud. He cares for you more than you know and more than he could ever tell."

Cloud sipped his beer. "What do you mean?"

"I can only try to understand whatever complicated bond you two have had since Nibelheim."

Cloud returned to the matter at hand. "You didn't encourage him with any of this brothel business did you?"

"Of course I told him, 'absolutely not! Not to our Cloud. His first time has to be with someone special.'"

Cloud met her eyes: eyes of the brightest warmest green—the color of the planet. Her eyes smiled and it was a smile filled with warmth and affection, even if not love as he knew it.

But what other than love in one of its many chimeric forms could account for it? Could account for them? When he lost his home, they had given him one. As they reunited and became a family, they had had invited him in.

What other than love?

"Zack's not really working, is he?" Cloud said.

"Of course not. He went out with Tseng for a drink. He said he'd probably be back sometime before the crack of dawn."

Cloud's words caught in his throat. "So…"

"Are you feeling lucky, SOLDIER?" It was a smile he knew he would never be able to refuse and never be able to decline.

Aerith's red-pink lips pressed to the goblet and she drank.

Did she really have then endurance of two SOLDIERs?

* * *

A/N: So I've been planning and writing a lot of Last of the Cetra lately and it's a pretty heavy story. During a lazy day at work, I brainstormed ideas for a light and fluffy one-shot and here's the result. That said, I'd like to expand on it later. I have a lot of other ideas I could run with in this little AU. What ends up happening? How does Zack figure into things? What's the deal with Tifa? Maybe I'll add to this as my "to write" queue whittles down a little more.


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